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Palestinian leader rejects deal on Syria refugees

Updated 10 January 2013

Associated Press

January 10, 2013 03:00

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Palestinian leader rejects deal on Syria refugees

Updated 10 January 2013

Associated Press

January 10, 2013 03:00

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RAMALLAH, West Bank: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says he rejected a conditional Israeli offer to allow Palestinians from war-torn Syria to resettle in the West Bank and Gaza.Palestinians in Syria are descendants of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled or were expelled in the war over Israel’s creation in 1948.The fate of Palestinians uprooted by Israel’s creation is an explosive issue. Israel worries that a mass influx of Palestinians could destroy the notion of a Jewish state.Last month, Abbas asked the UN to seek Israeli permission to bring Palestinians caught in Syria’s civil war to the Palestinian territories.Abbas said in comments published Thursday that Israel linked its acceptance to refugees relinquishing claims to returning to what is now Israel.Abbas says “we rejected that.”

Iraqi PM Abadi says election fraud allegations to be investigated

Updated 44 min 56 sec ago

Reuters

May 24, 2018 19:33

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BAGHDAD: Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi said on Thursday that allegations of fraud in national elections held last week will be investigated, according to a statement from his office.
The electoral list of Moqtada Al-Sadr, a populist Shiite cleric, unexpectedly won the biggest number of seats in the May 12 ballot.
The fraud claims have centered on the city of Kirkuk — although there have been reports of irregularities in multiple provinces — and focused on the tabulation system in electronic voting machines that were used for the first time during the election.
A special committee appointed by the cabinet will investigate the allegations, Abadi’s office said.
Some candidates have also expressed concerns about voter intimidation and reports of chaotic distribution of ID cards, which they claim disenfranchised hundreds of thousands of people.
Following several days of complaints — including a call for an investigation by the UN’s senior envoy to Iraq, Jan Kubis — the country’s electoral commission said on Monday it had invalidated ballots from 103 polling stations in five provinces.
The investigatory committee, which will include advisers from the security and intelligence sectors, will have access to all documents pertaining to the electoral process, including from the electoral commission.
The commission could not immediately be reached for comment.